BRS leader K T Rama Rao serves legal notice to Union Minister Sanjay Kumar

Hyderabad: BRS Working President K T Rama Rao has sent a legal notice to Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar for allegedly making defamatory comments against him over the case of "illegal phone tapping" during the previous BRS government.

In the notice, dated August 11, Rama Rao's lawyer alleged that Sanjay Kumar, Union Minister of State for Home, made false, defamatory and slanderous statements implying that his client (Rama Rao) committed "phone tapping".

"At the outset, our client states that allegations made by you (Sanjay Kumar) are misplaced without proof and reek of your malafide intention to tarnish the reputation, image and goodwill of our client," the lawyer said in the notice, which was released to the media on Tuesday.

Sanjay Kumar's intentions are clear that the defamatory statements are made to further his political gains at the cost of Rama Rao's reputation and goodwill, the notice said.

The notice asked Kumar to tender an unconditional apology to the BRS Working President and to refrain from engaging in any alleged further malicious or frivolous defamatory acts against the latter and his family members.

The notice said Rama Rao would be constrained to initiate legal action against Kumar, including but not limited to civil and criminal, if he failed to comply with the demand to tender an unconditional apology within seven days of receipt of the notice.

Sanjay Kumar, who appeared as a witness before the SIT in the illegal phone tapping case in Telangana, on August 8, called for the investigation to be transferred to the CBI.

The Union Minister hit out at former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and also Rama Rao on the allegations of phone-tapping, claiming that his phone was tapped by following the procedure used for surveillance of Maoist activities.

The BRS leader and Sanjay Kumar were engaged in a war of words on August 8 following the latter's allegations.

Demanding a public apology, Rama Rao had said a legal notice was being served.

Responding to Rama Rao's threat of legal notice, the Union Minister had said he won't fall for such "monkey tricks" and dared the former to "bring it on".